Juneathon Day 9 and Denby BDL

I hate seasonal allergies, there has been an over-abundance of grouchiness and lethargy this week thanks to them.  I slept quite a bit of the day yesterday and ended up back in bed for over two hours this afternoon and have been fighting a headache that keeps trying to edge over into migraine territory...It was this that almost made me stay home and skip tonight's BDL race but I figured a run would hopefully knock it out.  No joy on the cure though, it seems determined to hang about.

Despite the sore head I managed to do somewhat ok although per my garmin I was 11 seconds slower than last year.  My splits were reasonable, the first mile was the slowest but the first section on this course is terrible, it's way too narrow for a herd of competitive road runners. At the stile where we have to go single file through there are always a few runners that aren't content with holding their place and try to shove through ahead of the rest of us and I have a nice little scrape just above the knee where someone kicked up a stick into my leg.  While I'm not happy about my placement (206) I can honestly say that I left it all on the course today, I had no kick left on the last uphill push to the finish line and several runners sprinted past me like I was stuck in black strap molasses.

It took me far longer to recover than normal but once I did I headed back out to find Sue and run with her on the final section, it was here when my grouchiness reared its head again...Several runners who had finished earlier were walking back to the car park and while most were stepping aside for those still on the course there were a handful that weren't quite as polite.  Come on people, it's the same distance and just because you finished it quicker doesn't mean that the rest of us aren't entitled to some courtesy as well...There certainly isn't any call for snarkiness either!

The final push, see all those guys behind me? Yeah they all passed me after this!

Juneathon Day 9:

*2.6 mile Tuesday Nordic Walking class

*4.84 miles Denby BDL race (37:48)

*Warmup and warmdown not tracked

*Far too much hoovering upstairs and downstairs, shampooed the living room and entry carpet

Looks like the race was slightly longer, last year's measured at 4.59 miles

Very grateful for the Ilkeston Running Club, I think we had the loudest and certainly the best cheering section!

Marathon training fatigue and BDL XC

Yesterday was a return to the Holme Brook BDL cross country race, our final one in the winter series. I must say that despite the weather conditions being much better the course was only marginally easier and it still ranks as my least favourite.  It certainly didn't help that I was running on very fatigued legs after completing my last long run for Belvoir on Wednesday and putting in a respectable time for the club handicap on Tuesday, it's safe to say that I was completely out of gas (that's definitely an Americanism) by the time Sunday rolled around.

Yes, that is snow in the background

Last year's weather was horrid: it was windy (25mph plus winds) and it was alternately sunny then completely overcast. If memory serves I think we even had a bit of sleet interspersed with rain and prior to the race we were all standing around inside the building shivering and postponing heading out for the warm-up run. This year it was debatable about whether the park was going to be runnable at all on the grass due to the heavier than usual snow and ice the previous week (one section still was ice covered yesterday) but the conditions on the day were almost perfect for a winter xc--bright sunshine and dare I say it, an almost balmy 42F/5.5 Celsius.

This course features a mean set of uphills, they are (mostly) fairly short but they are wicked brutal on the legs, combine that with ankle deep shoe squelching mud and it can be almost soul-destroying knowing that you have to go around it TWICE! There seemed to be an unusually high number of runners dropping out on the first lap after the first big hill, it would be interesting to know what the attrition rate is for this race.

Run-by wave on the 2nd lap

Abbreviated description of the route: Muddy grass, little bit of footpath, sharp right back onto the grass for a little downhill, sharp left to run alongside the football pitches, smile for the camera, more downhill, watch out for the low tree branches being whipped back into our faces, little more downhill into the trees and through the slalom course of earth mounds, start climbing, look at the cars driving by over to the right and wish you were in one of them instead of running xc (not really, lol), the uphill climb gets steeper, thank the marshall, and get a breather on the little downhill before you start running uphill again, still going up...still climbing, omg is this hill never going to end, notice with interest and a slight bit of smugness the number of guys walking off the route to call it a day right before you realise you still have more hill to get up, onto some footpath (ow that hurts with luggy cx shoes) and then in between the football pitches where you (read I) get passed by one of the women in your club like you are standing still, more footpath, right by the visitor centre which looks like a great place to take off the gloves and toss them to the side, left alongside the field where the start/finish line is just over there (cruelty), sharp downhill, back uphill, try not to fall on your arse in the iced over field, curve to the left, curve to the right, and curve back left while enjoying the slight decline and trying to catch your breath and not lose your shoes in the quagmire of mud, steep downhill, even steeper uphill, run by the finish line because you have to do all that over again! Ok so maybe that wasn't quite so abbreviated.

Not sure why I was looking so worried, the race was finally done

I would like to say that I didn't walk at all during this one but unfortunately on one of the hills on the second lap I succumbed to the screaming legs and the little voice in my head that was whispering "You can't make it, just walk already."  Thankfully the girl I encouraged to keep going that was right behind me returned the favour by getting me running again after a few steps.  This is where Caz from the running club also caught and passed me which is the same place that Catherine did last year, the old adage of history repeats itself comes to mind.

All in all, this wasn't one of my better performances of the season, I struggled far more than what I would have liked but I ended up bettering last year's time by over 2 minutes on a course almost a quarter of a mile longer and managed to place 2nd in my age category.  Not sure yet if I'm happy or sad that the woman who took 1st in our category was almost 5 minutes faster than me yesterday instead of the 9 second difference between us in the previous XC race!  Well done to everyone who ran yesterday, our club put in some VERY respectable performances, even getting around the Holmebrook course is an accomplishment to be proud of.

Holmebrook 2014--even the same shoes just much colder and muddier

Bakewell BDL

Being silly pre-race

Race reports are funny things, you (or rather I) need to get them written while they are fresh in your mind, hence there not being one for the Chaddesden Park cross country race earlier in the month which is a shame because it involved several very cold stream crossings and me taking a wrong turn.

Crossing the stream at Chaddesden Park

Today as you may have surmised from the blog title was the league xc race at Bakewell which is new to the schedule.  Bakewell, for those not familiar is a very picturesque market town that is famous for the Bakewell Pudding--we've driven through many times but because it is so incredibly popular with tourists we've not taken the time to actually stop so I could sample the dessert.  That was remedied today...as part of our warm-up a couple of us walked over to The Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop so I could buy one for after the race.

Bakewell Pudding!

Wasn't I supposed to be talking about a race??? Today we were fortunate to have a beautifully sunny and dare I say it--almost balmy temperatures for the last day of November.  Didn't mean the course was any less muddy though! There were 3 laps which meant going up a big damn hill 6 times, in reality the hill wasn't terribly huge but it sure does feel like a monster when you're clambering up it.  

Is it a grimace or a grin?

There was also a water crossing but the course designers very nicely provided an alternative route around. It was shorter going through the water of course and the first two times round I took the high ground to bypass it but decided on the last lap that I HAD to go through it just to say I did, there was a second or two gain but alas my legs were too trashed to take advantage of it.  My favourite sections were the massive downhills because I was confident enough in my shoes and ankles to take advantage of them and just let gravity do the work.  The flat sections around the bottom of the course over the plastic gridding were slightly soul-destroying though, not quite sure why but for some reason that area just felt odd, almost like it was sucking the energy out of me through the soles of my trainers.

Definitely a grimace.

I made it almost all the way through the race without any mishaps (yay me!) until the last lap and instead of leaping over the wood creating the steps on the first downhill I caught the edge of it and my right leg shot straight out to the side along the very slick wood (Miss Oops is back!). Imagine a very deep side lunge and you have what I ended up doing while trying to leap past an obstruction. OUCH!!!!!!! It's not good when the marshall audibly gasps and asks if you are all right. It certainly put an end to me being able to muster up any speed.  

Hmm, speed. There wasn't any for me today except for the aforementioned downhills but I'm not whinging about it--no, really, I'm not!  I've come off a hard week of training mileage wise and I am just happy to have gotten this one done for the club.  There was absolutely nothing left in me at the finish line, couldn't even muster up one last minute sprint so if anyone had charged by me they would have taken it easily.  No clue about my finish position, I couldn't even talk when I was handing over the token much less think to look at the number.  Would I do it again? Of course I would!

P.S. The Bakewell Pudding was delicious. However the after-race homemade flapjacks provided by Catherine were even more so!  

US/UK words and the BDL blues

Autumn colours

I don't think I've had any word difference conversations lately but I did get to help out at a pub quiz by correctly spelling "Massachusetts" for the group during a running club member's leaving do last night. Score one for the 'murican! I love pub quizzes, we should attend them more often but they do get quite competitive.  I do want to share the following infographic though.

Image via Anglotopia facebook page

A few of these are interchangeable in the states, ie taxi/cab are both used as is fall/autumn.  The picture of drapes/curtains is most definitely showing curtains, the closet/wardrobe is representing a standalone unit so that would also be called a wardrobe or alternatively, armoire.  They also left out a third option for gasoline/petrol--those of us who are or were truck drivers (lorry drivers) across the pond commonly refer to both gasoline and diesel as fuel, granted that's a smaller segment of the population but I am throwing it in there anyways.

It's funny how my use of words are changing, yard and garden are both used equally now and I had to laugh at myself today when I was explaining to my partner that the only working pay and display machine was the one with the long queue.  Still having trouble with the whole pants and trousers bit though!  

Today was the first cross country race of the winter for the BDL (Booth Decorators' League) and quite frankly I was not ready for it.  I'm still not feeling back to normal, the only running I did this past week were the club run nights and they were both short but hard effort runs. The weather was beautiful though, so nice having a XC race where we weren't freezing and covered with mud!  

Yes, I'm suffering!

I can tell you that watching a calf muscle twitch while it's trying to decide whether or not to cramp up provides a bit of morbid entertainment as does my cursing about it! My left leg decided to let me know it wasn't one bit happy with what we were doing just a little before halfway through today's race, the last time I had this happen so severely was at the Malta half marathon when it looked like I had a fist sized knot on the backside of my left calf.  The cause that time was dehydration as well so it's time to get my act together when it comes to drinking enough water.

Current status: reeking of bio-freeze, wearing Mary Kay pink leg compression sleeves, chugging tea, and suffering the BDL blues. 

Fleeting

My memory. This summer.  Two things that fit the fleeting descriptor right now.  I have had so many blog ideas but didn't bother to sit down to put the words to screen or even ink to paper to remind myself.  Or I get busy with other things and while I remember the subject I no longer have the desire to right about it.  As far as summer goes, I think it has disappeared.  It never truly got HOT at night but over the past couple of weeks it's gotten steadily cooler and now in mid-August there is a distinct autumnal bite to the air even during the middle of the day.  Time to pack away the summer clothing, most of which didn't get a single wear at all.  I made a joke on facebook that it was a good thing I don't buy trendy because whenever I made my return to the states in a few years most of my shorts, sundresses, and vests would still be in nearly new condition.  And no, it's not just me as an expat grumbling, everyone is commenting on how chilly it's been and then laughing and saying welcome to British summer ;-)

Summer!

In fitness news, my speed and endurance seems to be gradually returning, emphasis on gradually.  Most Sundays I'm getting in a 10ish miler although the weekend ex Hurricane Bertha made her visit I kept it at 7.5 because of trying to avoid the rain and wind. I managed to get confused on the August handicap course again (blue arrows on the trail pointed in a different direction than what our route is) so ended up waiting for the next runner coming up to get me headed the right way.  It still wouldn't have been a pb but it would have been closer than the time I ended up with.  Unfortunately my Garmin 610 also decided to have a malfunction by freezing up and then refusing to download that day's data because the file was corrupted so I don't know exactly how much time I lost.

The final BDL of the summer also went better than expected, 5.19 miles in 40:52 and second in my age category.  Last Saturday's parkrun was a bit of a success with a time of 23:26, 4th female overall, and 2nd in my age.  Gives me hope I can start whittling that time down if I can keep from getting injured again.  I also managed to spot the photographer in time to smile and not look like I was on the verge of passing out or having a seizure. 

I look like I'm going so slow and the guy behind me has both feet off the ground.

Speaking of parkrun, I had made plans to attend a Nordic Walking class on Saturday so that meant I had to leave just as soon as I got my barcodes scanned but I did get to see a couple of Nordic walkers that were doing the 5k as well.  Such a great sight spying the poles and the red British Nordic Walking shirts! Once I get over this chasing a personal best business I need to do that as well but I think I would prefer a not so flat course, it's great for running but I prefer hills for the walking.